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List of French monarchs
* 24 February 1848 (Royal monarchy) * 4 September 1870 (Imperial monarchy) | pretender = Disputed * Louis Alphonse de Bourbon (House of Bourbon) * Henri d'Orléans (House of Orléans) * Jean-Christophe Napoléon (House of Bonaparte) }} The Monarchs of France ruled from the establishment of the Frankish Kingdom in 486 to 1870. During most of its history, France was ruled by kings. However, four Carolingian monarchs were also Roman Emperors and the Bonapartes were Emperors of the French. This article lists all rulers to have held the title "King of Franks", "King of France", "King of the French" or "Emperor of the French". For other Frankish monarchs, see List of Frankish kings. In addition to the monarchs listed below, the Kings of England and Great Britain from 1340–60 and 1369–1801 also claimed the title of King of France. For a short time, this had some basis in fact — under the terms of the 1420 Treaty of Troyes, Charles VI had recognized his son-in-law Henry V of England as regent and heir. Henry V predeceased Charles VI and so Henry V's son, Henry VI, succeeded his grandfather Charles VI as King of France. Most of Northern France was under English control until 1435, but by 1453, the English had been expelled from all of France save Calais (and the Channel Islands), and Calais itself fell in 1558. Nevertheless, English and then British monarchs continued to claim the title for themselves until the creation of the United Kingdom in 1801. The title "King of the Franks" ( ) remained in use until 1190, during the reign of Philip II (but note the use of FRANCORUM REX by Louis XII in 1499, by Francis I in 1515, and by Henry II about 1550 ). During the brief period when the French Constitution of 1791 was in effect (1791–92) and after the July Revolution in 1830, the style "King of the French" was used instead of "King of France (and Navarre)". It was a constitutional innovation known as popular monarchy which linked the monarch's title to the French people rather than to the possession of the territory of France. In addition to the Kingdom of France, there were also two French Empires, the first from 1804–15, founded and ruled by Napoleon I, and the second from 1852–70, founded and ruled by his nephew Napoleon III. Merovingian Dynasty (428–751) The name of France comes from the Germanic tribe known as the Franks. The Merovingian kings began as mere chieftains, the oldest known being Chlodio. Clovis I was the first of these to rise to true kingship. After his death, his kingdom was split between his sons into Soissons (Neustria), Paris, Orléans (Burgundy), and Metz (Austrasia). Several Merovingian monarchs reunited the Frankish kingdoms and assumed the title of "King of the Franks". But upon their deaths, according to Frankish custom, the kingdom would often be split once again between their sons. For a complete list of the various Merovingian kings and the specific territories they controlled, see List of Frankish kings. The last Merovingian kings, known as the lazy kings (rois fainéants), did not hold any real political power, while the Mayor of the Palace governed instead. When Theuderic IV died in 737, Mayor of the Palace Charles Martel left the throne vacant and continued to rule until his own death in 741. His sons Pepin and Carloman briefly restored the Merovingian dynasty by raising Childeric III to the throne in 743. In 751, Pepin deposed Childerich and acceded to the throne. Carolingian Dynasty (751–987) Three non-Carolingian kings reigned during the Carolingian period of the French monarchy. Two, Odo and his brother Robert I were Robertians, while Robert's son-in-law Raoul/Rudolph was a Bosonid. The Robertian Dynasty became the Capetian Dynasty with the ascent to the throne of Hugh Capet (son of Hugh the Great, son of Robert I) in 987. The rise and fall of Carolingian Charles III played out during the ascent of these non-Carolingian kings. |align="center"|King of the Franks (Roi des Francs) |- |align="center"| |align="center"|Robert I (Robert Ier) |align="center"|30 June 922 |align="center"|15 June 923 | Son of Robert the Strong (Robertians) Younger brother of Odo |align="center"|King of the Franks (Roi des Francs) |- |align="center"| |align="center"|Rudolph (Raoul de France) |align="center"|13 July 923 |align="center"|14 January 936 | Son of Richard, Duke of Burgundy (Bosonids) Son-in-law of Robert I |align="center"|King of the Franks (Roi des Francs) |- |align="center"| |align="center"|Louis IV from overseas (Louis IV d'Outremer) |align="center"|19 June 936 |align="center"|10 September 954 | Son of Charles III |align="center"|King of the Franks (Roi des Francs) |- |align="center"| |align="center"|Lothair (Lothaire de France) |align="center"|12 November 954 |align="center"|2 March 986 | Son of Louis IV |align="center"|King of the Franks (Roi des Francs) |- |align="center"| |align="center"|Louis V the Lazy (Louis V le Fainéant) |align="center"|8 June 986 |align="center"|22 May 987 | Son of Lothair |align="center"|King of the Franks (Roi des Francs) |} Capetian Dynasty (987–1792) The Capetian Dynasty, the male-line descendants of Hugh Capet, ruled France continuously from 987 to 1792 and again from 1814 to 1848. The branches of the dynasty which ruled after 1328, however, are generally given the specific branch names of Valois and Bourbon. House of Capet (987–1328) Not listed above are Hugh Magnus, eldest son of Robert II, and Philip of France, eldest son of Louis VI; both were co-Kings with their fathers (in accordance with the early Capetian practice whereby Kings would crown their heirs in their own lifetimes and share power with the co-king), but predeceased them. Because neither Hugh nor Philip were sole or senior king in their own lifetimes, they are not traditionally listed as Kings of France, and are not given ordinals. House of Valois (1328–1589) Orléans branch (1498–1515) Orléans–Angoulême Branch (1515–1589) House of Bourbon (1589–1792) From 21 January 1793 to 8 June 1795, Louis XVI's son Louis-Charles was the titular King of France as 'Louis XVII; in reality, however, he was imprisoned in the Temple throughout this duration, and power was held by the leaders of the Republic. Upon Louis XVII's death, his uncle (Louis XVI's brother) Louis-Stanislas claimed the throne, as '''Louis XVIII, but only became de facto King of France in 1814.'' First Republic (1792–1804) The First French Republic lasted from 1792 to 1804, when its First Consul, Napoléon Bonaparte, declared himself Emperor of the French. House of Bonaparte, First Empire (1804–1814) House of Bourbon, Bourbon Restoration (1814–1815) House of Bonaparte, First Empire (Hundred Days, 1815) House of Bourbon (1815–1830) The elder son of Charles X, the Dauphin Louis-Antoine, is occasionally considered to have legally been the King of France as 'Louis XIX' in the 20 minutes that passed between Charles X's formal signature of abdication and the Dauphin's own signature. Henri d'Artois, Charles X's grandson, was considered by monarchists to be the titular King of France, as 'Henry V' from 2 August 1830 to 9 August 1830, but his reign remained largely fictional, as he acceded in a revolutionary context and hence was never recognized by the French State. He is generally not accounted for in lists of official French monarchs. House of Orléans, July Monarchy (1830–1848) Second Republic (1848–1852) The Second French Republic lasted from 1848 to 1852, when its president, Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, was declared Emperor of the French. House of Bonaparte, Second Empire (1852–1870) Government of National Defence (Paris Commune 1870–1871) The transition period between the fall of the Second Empire after the capture of Napoleon III by the Prussians and the assumption of the Third Republic by General Louis Jules Trochu. Heads of State following 1871 The chronology of Head of State of France continues with the Presidents of France and short term interim periods by the Chief of State of the French State (1940–1944), the Chairman of the Provisional Government of the French Republic (1944–1946) and the President of the French Senate (1969 and 1974) during the Fifth Republic. Later pretenders Various pretenders descended from the preceding monarchs have claimed to be the legitimate monarch of France, rejecting the claims of the President of France, and of each other. These groups are: * Legitimist claimants to the throne of France: descendants of the Bourbons, rejecting all heads of state since 1830. Unionists recognized the Orléanist claimant after 1883. * Legitimist-Anjou claimants to the throne France: descendants of Louis XIV, claiming precedence over the House of Orléans by virtue of primogeniture * Orléanist claimants to the throne of France: descendants of Louis-Phillippe, himself descended from a junior line of the Bourbon dynasty, rejecting all heads of state since 1848. * Bonapartist claimants to the throne of France: descendants of Napoleon I and his brothers, rejecting all heads of state 1815–52, and since 1870. * English claimaints to the throne of France: Kings of England and later, of Great Britain (renounced by Hanoverian King George III upon union with Ireland) * Jacobite claimants to the throne of France: senior heirs-general of King Edward III of England and thus his claim to the French throne, also claiming England, Scotland, and Ireland. See also *Coronation of the French monarch *Bourbon family tree *English and French monarchs overlap chart *British claims to the French throne *French Crown Jewels *Kings of France family tree *Members of the French Royal Families *Style of the French sovereign Notes References *Edward James, The Origins of France: Clovis to the Capetians 500-1000. ISBN 0-333-27052-5. *Edward James, The Franks. Blackwell: 1991. ISBN 0-631-17936-4. *The history of France as recounted in the Grandes Chroniques de France, and particularly in the personal copy produced for King Charles V between 1370 and 1380 that is the saga of the three great dynasties, the Merovingians, Carolingians, and the Capetian Rulers of France, that shaped the institutions and the frontiers of the realm. It should be noted that this work was commissioned at a time that France was embroiled in the Hundred Years' War with England, a war fought over hereditary claims to the throne of France. It must therefore be read with a careful eye toward biases meant to justify the Capetian claims of continuity and inheritance. *''The Cambridge Illustrated History of France. Cambridge University Press. *Paul Fouracre and Richard A. Gerberding, ''Late Merovingian France: History and Hagiography, 640–720. Manchester University Press. ISBN 0-7190-4791-9. *Patrick Geary, Before France and Germany: The Creation and Transformation of the Merovingian World. Oxford: Oxford U. Press, 1988. ISBN 0-19-504458-4. *Patrick Geary, The Myth of Nations: The Medieval Origins of Europe. Princeton University Press, 2001. ISBN 0-691-11481-1. Category:French monarchs France Monarch